TSA: From Security to Stupid?

Foxfyre

Eternal optimist
Gold Supporting Member
Oct 11, 2007
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Desert Southwest USA
Okay, maybe I'm a prude, but after watcing several months of people being groped, poked, prodded, and essentially fondled at airports - of course they do have the option of standing naked in front of a scanner - I will think twice before subjecting myself to air travel in the immediate future.

So I'm wondering if the national conciousness re religious sensitivity will win out?

AGONY AT THE AIRPORT
TSA procedures offend followers of many faiths
By Tara Bahrampour
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, December 23, 2010

As Erum Ikramullah prepared to head to Reagan National Airport on Thursday for a flight, she mulled over two distasteful choices: the body scanner or the pat-down?

Ever since the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, a trip to the airport has been fraught for Muslims, who sometimes feel they are being profiled as potential terrorists because of their religion. The addition of full-body scanners, which many say violate Islam's requirements of modesty, has increased the discomfort.

Muslims aren't alone in their antipathy toward the new security measures. Followers of other religions, including Sikhs and some Orthodox Jews and evangelical Christians, also say the scanners and pat-downs make them uncomfortable or breach the tenets of their faiths.
TSA procedures offend followers of many faiths


Or the unmistakable stupdity that accompanies some of the rules and regs we are now subjected to?

So what do you think? Have you accepted this latest initiative of government authority as inevitable as we seem to do with most government initiatives? Or are you still bothered by it if you ever were?

How much are we willing to allow the terrorists to affect policy that affects all of us?

I had a pair of cuticle scissors I had fogotten about confiscated from my purse. If you have ever seen cuticle scissors, they do have a sharp point but the blade is about 1/4 inch. Somebody really would have to die from a thousand cuts in order to use such as a lethal weapon. Immediately ahead of me was a gentleman with a cane that would have made a much more effective weapon.

Here is an e-mail I've received from a couple of people that may or may not be authentic. If it is, it is just one more evidence of adding absurdity to absurdity.

As the Chalk Leader for my flight home from Afghanistan, I witnessed the following:

When we were on our way back from Afghanistan, we flew out of Baghram Air Field. We went through customs at BAF, full body scanners (no groping), had all of our bags searched, the whole nine yards.

Our first stop was Shannon, Ireland to refuel. After that, we had to stop at Indianapolis, Indiana to drop off about 100 folks from the Indiana National Guard. That's where the stupid started.

First, everyone was forced to get off the plane-even though the plane wasn't refueling again. All 330 people got off that plane, rather than let the 100 people from the ING get off. We were filed from the plane to a holding area. No vending machines, no means of escape. Only a male/female latrine.

It's probably important to mention that we were ALL carrying weapons. Everyone was carrying an M4 Carbine (rifle) and some, like me, were also carrying an M9 pistol. Oh, and our gunners had M-240B machine guns. Of course, the weapons weren't loaded. And we had been cleared of all ammo well before we even got to customs at Baghram, then AGAIN at customs.

The TSA personnel at the airport seriously considered making us unload all of the baggage from the SECURE cargo hold to have it re-inspected. Keep in mind, this cargo had been unpacked, inspected piece by piece by U.S. Customs officials, resealed and had bomb-sniffing dogs give it a one-hour run through. After two hours of sitting in this holding area, the TSA decided not to re-inspect our Cargo-just to inspect us again:
Soldiers on the way home from war, who had already been inspected, re-inspected and kept in a SECURE holding area for 2 hours. Ok, whatever.

So we lined up to go through security AGAIN. This is probably another good time to remind you all that all of us were carrying actual assault rifles, and some of us were also carrying pistols.

So we're in line, going through one at a time. One of our Soldiers had his Gerber multi-tool. TSA confiscated it. Kind of ridiculous, but it gets better. A few minutes later, a guy empties his pockets and has a pair of nail clippers. Nail clippers. TSA informs the Soldier that they're going to confiscate his nail clippers. The conversation went something like this:

TSA Guy: You can't take those on the plane.

Soldier: What? I've had them since we left country.

TSA Guy: You're not supposed to have them.

Soldier: Why?

TSA Guy: They can be used as a weapon.

Soldier: [touches butt stock of the rifle] But this actually is a
weapon and I'm allowed to take it on.

TSA Guy: Yeah but you can't use it to take over the plane. You don't have bullets.

Soldier: And I can take over the plane with nail clippers?

TSA Guy: [awkward silence]

Me: Dude, just give him your damn nail clippers so we can get the hell out of here. I'll buy you a new set.

Soldier: [hands nail clippers to TSA guy, makes it through security] To top it off, the TSA demanded we all be swabbed for "explosive residue" detection. Everyone failed, [go figure, we just came home from a war zone], because we tested positive for "Gun Powder Residue". Who the hell is hiring these people?

This might be a good time to remind everyone that approximately 233 people re-boarded that plane with assault rifles, pistols, and machine guns-but nothing that could have been used as a weapon. Can someone please tell me What the hell happened to OUR country while we were gone?

Sgt. Mad Dog Tracy
 
I read the "email" you received and immediately figured that it was bullshit. Two seconds of googling found out that I was correct.

It is one thing to question the security measures we are forced to endure, but why lie about what is actually going on? It just makes people look stupid.

TSA Not to Blame for This | FactCheck.org
 
Israel questions all passengers while they wait in line.

They also run background checks on all who are in any way questionable or who are traveling with passports from places unfriendly to Israel or otherwise demonstrate factors that warrent a closer look.

Personally, when boarding a domestic flight, I think a valid U.S. Passport should exempt any of us who aren't exhibiting unusual behavior from more than a cursory look over. The USA certainly has capability of running an extensive background check on any of us before issuing that passport.

I have no problem walking through the metal detector or having personal belongings xrayed or scrutinized.

My last air trip my coat, camera, organizer containing my cellphone etc., my computer case and the computer separately went through the xray machine. I was not asked to turn on the cellphone. They did not ask me to open the computer.

Normal security measures have kept us pretty darn safe. Groping and seeing people naked adds another layer to that, but I doubt its doing much to really make us safer.

Next somebody is going to use body cavities for their homemade bomb and what then? We undergo body cavity searches before we get on the plane?
 
I read the "email" you received and immediately figured that it was bullshit. Two seconds of googling found out that I was correct.

It is one thing to question the security measures we are forced to endure, but why lie about what is actually going on? It just makes people look stupid.

TSA Not to Blame for This | FactCheck.org

the anti-TSA extremists haven't posted anything accurate yet, i think. If they have, it was an accident.
 
Israel questions all passengers while they wait in line.

They also run background checks on all who are in any way questionable or who are traveling with passports from places unfriendly to Israel or otherwise demonstrate factors that warrent a closer look.

Personally, when boarding a domestic flight, I think a valid U.S. Passport should exempt any of us who aren't exhibiting unusual behavior from more than a cursory look over. The USA certainly has capability of running an extensive background check on any of us before issuing that passport.

I have no problem walking through the metal detector or having personal belongings xrayed or scrutinized.

My last air trip my coat, camera, organizer containing my cellphone etc., my computer case and the computer separately went through the xray machine. I was not asked to turn on the cellphone. They did not ask me to open the computer.

Normal security measures have kept us pretty darn safe. Groping and seeing people naked adds another layer to that, but I doubt its doing much to really make us safer.

Next somebody is going to use body cavities for their homemade bomb and what then? We undergo body cavity searches before we get on the plane?

israel gets 6 flights a day. do you know how many flights go out of JFK? If you don't want to be 'groped', as you call it, feel free to use the scanner. If that offends you, feel free not to fly.
 
Israel questions all passengers while they wait in line.

They also run background checks on all who are in any way questionable or who are traveling with passports from places unfriendly to Israel or otherwise demonstrate factors that warrent a closer look.

Personally, when boarding a domestic flight, I think a valid U.S. Passport should exempt any of us who aren't exhibiting unusual behavior from more than a cursory look over. The USA certainly has capability of running an extensive background check on any of us before issuing that passport.

I have no problem walking through the metal detector or having personal belongings xrayed or scrutinized.


My last air trip my coat, camera, organizer containing my cellphone etc., my computer case and the computer separately went through the xray machine. I was not asked to turn on the cellphone. They did not ask me to open the computer.

Normal security measures have kept us pretty darn safe. Groping and seeing people naked adds another layer to that, but I doubt its doing much to really make us safer.

Next somebody is going to use body cavities for their homemade bomb and what then? We undergo body cavity searches before we get on the plane?

Right, so long as they change their gloves before touching anything of mine and put my brief case back the way they found it, not just dump everything back into it in a total mess.

I DO have a problem walking in my socks on their FILTHY floors.

I do have a problem with them grouping some small kid and not the guy who looks like a tweakie nutcase just to prove they are not profiling.
 
Israel questions all passengers while they wait in line.

They also run background checks on all who are in any way questionable or who are traveling with passports from places unfriendly to Israel or otherwise demonstrate factors that warrent a closer look.

Personally, when boarding a domestic flight, I think a valid U.S. Passport should exempt any of us who aren't exhibiting unusual behavior from more than a cursory look over. The USA certainly has capability of running an extensive background check on any of us before issuing that passport.

I have no problem walking through the metal detector or having personal belongings xrayed or scrutinized.

My last air trip my coat, camera, organizer containing my cellphone etc., my computer case and the computer separately went through the xray machine. I was not asked to turn on the cellphone. They did not ask me to open the computer.

Normal security measures have kept us pretty darn safe. Groping and seeing people naked adds another layer to that, but I doubt its doing much to really make us safer.

Next somebody is going to use body cavities for their homemade bomb and what then? We undergo body cavity searches before we get on the plane?

israel gets 6 flights a day. do you know how many flights go out of JFK? If you don't want to be 'groped', as you call it, feel free to use the scanner. If that offends you, feel free not to fly.

LOL.


JFK


So they don't search or scan the foreign woman (or the kid) coming through with a kid in a stroller, that was not hers, trying to say that the woman standing "over there" was the mother...who didn't share the baby's name. :cuckoo:

They did strip my husband, dump his brief case, and scan him.

I made it though before the women with the kid. :eusa_pray:
 
Israel questions all passengers while they wait in line.

They also run background checks on all who are in any way questionable or who are traveling with passports from places unfriendly to Israel or otherwise demonstrate factors that warrent a closer look.

Personally, when boarding a domestic flight, I think a valid U.S. Passport should exempt any of us who aren't exhibiting unusual behavior from more than a cursory look over. The USA certainly has capability of running an extensive background check on any of us before issuing that passport.

I have no problem walking through the metal detector or having personal belongings xrayed or scrutinized.

My last air trip my coat, camera, organizer containing my cellphone etc., my computer case and the computer separately went through the xray machine. I was not asked to turn on the cellphone. They did not ask me to open the computer.

Normal security measures have kept us pretty darn safe. Groping and seeing people naked adds another layer to that, but I doubt its doing much to really make us safer.

Next somebody is going to use body cavities for their homemade bomb and what then? We undergo body cavity searches before we get on the plane?

israel gets 6 flights a day. do you know how many flights go out of JFK? If you don't want to be 'groped', as you call it, feel free to use the scanner. If that offends you, feel free not to fly.

Or how about we don't grope folks or use the scanner for people who are no threat whatsoever. Why not allow people to have a thorough background check ahead of time--the U.S. passport clearance seems to be pretty thorough and could be made even more thorough--and then allow the holder to go through normal security per usual? Do you really have a problem with that? If so, why?

And yes, it does offend me to be groped in intimate places by a perfect stranger or to be forced to stand naked in front of a perfect stranger before I am allowed to get on a plane to go see my daughter or travel to Phoenix on business. If you enjoy that sort of thing, power to you.

And to make it even more galling, as Syrenn mentioned, when they let some scuzzy guy that wouldn't be allowed into a fine dining restaurant zip right through with not even a second glance but pull over the little old lady with the cane for a full pat down? It's nuts.
 
They also run background checks on all who are in any way questionable or who are traveling with passports from places unfriendly to Israel or otherwise demonstrate factors that warrent a closer look.

Personally, when boarding a domestic flight, I think a valid U.S. Passport should exempt any of us who aren't exhibiting unusual behavior from more than a cursory look over. The USA certainly has capability of running an extensive background check on any of us before issuing that passport.

I have no problem walking through the metal detector or having personal belongings xrayed or scrutinized.

My last air trip my coat, camera, organizer containing my cellphone etc., my computer case and the computer separately went through the xray machine. I was not asked to turn on the cellphone. They did not ask me to open the computer.

Normal security measures have kept us pretty darn safe. Groping and seeing people naked adds another layer to that, but I doubt its doing much to really make us safer.

Next somebody is going to use body cavities for their homemade bomb and what then? We undergo body cavity searches before we get on the plane?

israel gets 6 flights a day. do you know how many flights go out of JFK? If you don't want to be 'groped', as you call it, feel free to use the scanner. If that offends you, feel free not to fly.

Or how about we don't grope folks or use the scanner for people who are no threat whatsoever. Why not allow people to have a thorough background check ahead of time--the U.S. passport clearance seems to be pretty thorough and could be made even more thorough--and then allow the holder to go through normal security per usual? Do you really have a problem with that? If so, why?

And yes, it does offend me to be groped in intimate places by a perfect stranger or to be forced to stand naked in front of a perfect stranger before I am allowed to get on a plane to go see my daughter or travel to Phoenix on business. If you enjoy that sort of thing, power to you.

And to make it even more galling, as Syrenn mentioned, when they let some scuzzy guy that wouldn't be allowed into a fine dining restaurant zip right through with not even a second glance but pull over the little old lady with the cane for a full pat down? It's nuts.

As far as i know they dont make you stand naked in front of anyone.
 
israel gets 6 flights a day. do you know how many flights go out of JFK? If you don't want to be 'groped', as you call it, feel free to use the scanner. If that offends you, feel free not to fly.

Or how about we don't grope folks or use the scanner for people who are no threat whatsoever. Why not allow people to have a thorough background check ahead of time--the U.S. passport clearance seems to be pretty thorough and could be made even more thorough--and then allow the holder to go through normal security per usual? Do you really have a problem with that? If so, why?

And yes, it does offend me to be groped in intimate places by a perfect stranger or to be forced to stand naked in front of a perfect stranger before I am allowed to get on a plane to go see my daughter or travel to Phoenix on business. If you enjoy that sort of thing, power to you.

And to make it even more galling, as Syrenn mentioned, when they let some scuzzy guy that wouldn't be allowed into a fine dining restaurant zip right through with not even a second glance but pull over the little old lady with the cane for a full pat down? It's nuts.

As far as i know they dont make you stand naked in front of anyone.

This is close enough for me.

TSA-scanner-image1.jpg


Somebody is looking at that when it is happening. And they have recording ability to save it if they want to.
 
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Israel questions all passengers while they wait in line.

They also run background checks on all who are in any way questionable or who are traveling with passports from places unfriendly to Israel or otherwise demonstrate factors that warrent a closer look.

Personally, when boarding a domestic flight, I think a valid U.S. Passport should exempt any of us who aren't exhibiting unusual behavior from more than a cursory look over. The USA certainly has capability of running an extensive background check on any of us before issuing that passport.

I have no problem walking through the metal detector or having personal belongings xrayed or scrutinized.

My last air trip my coat, camera, organizer containing my cellphone etc., my computer case and the computer separately went through the xray machine. I was not asked to turn on the cellphone. They did not ask me to open the computer.

Normal security measures have kept us pretty darn safe. Groping and seeing people naked adds another layer to that, but I doubt its doing much to really make us safer.

Next somebody is going to use body cavities for their homemade bomb and what then? We undergo body cavity searches before we get on the plane?

israel gets 6 flights a day. do you know how many flights go out of JFK? If you don't want to be 'groped', as you call it, feel free to use the scanner. If that offends you, feel free not to fly.

6 flights?

Bullshit
 

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